The Day I Sat In A.....Mercedes Benz AMG A45

It must be car season in the month of Feb.  Apparently three of my good friends just bought a new car each.  One of them just took possession of his beast, the Mercedes Benz AMG A45.  He waited 6 months for this beast to arrive in Brunei.  As you can see from the picture, this is not your average A45. The car has been loaded with options from the AMG catalog.  The standard A45 cost about $89k.  This example you looking here with options added is knocking on the $100k range.

Optional Aero Package

Optional AMG Exhaust system and Optional Night Package(Painted side skirt, exhaust tips and others)

Optional AMG Rear Wing

Optional Painted Red Caliper  (Standard color is silver)

18" AMG wheels riding on Continental Tyres

First Panoramic roof on an A45 in Brunei!

This engine is a 2.0litre 4cyclineder twinscroll turbocharged.  Makes 360hp with 450Nm of torque(hence the A45 badge)

One man, One Engine philosopy from AMG.  This engine is built by Juan Gulou.  Well done Mr.Juan!

Beautiful interior contrasting with red accents and stitching.  This car is also fitted with optional Harmon/Kardon sound system.

Optional $4K Recaro Seats

Lastly, optional unique AMG Gearknob

My friend is currently running-in his A45.  So hopefully I will get a taste from the AMG engine soon.

Happy Chinese New Year 2015

GONG XI FA CHAI

WISH EVERYONE HERE A PROSPEROUS 2015

Project Blue : Devil - EBC Ultimax 2 Front Brake Pads for MINI Countryman S

Last week a system alert pop out on my MINI Countryman telling me the front brake pads need replacement.  I took my car to QAF MINI to have them replaced but ended up bringing my car back home because they want to charge me $400 bucks for a set of brake pad!  And that is not inclusive brake sensor and labor.  I was told it will be over $500 to $600 range.  I was quite shock OEM brake pads actually cost this much!  

So I went online and found this!  EBC Brakes, a very popular alternative pads to OEM. This set is from their Ultimax 2 range which has similar compound identical to OEM.  They have a few more sports range pads but I didn't bother with it as I would like to try how good this are first.   The best part is it is made in U.K!

All in all, I got everything done for less then $250 bucks and had a saving of at least $300.  Talk about expensive mark-up from MINI agent!  It is always wise to source around for alternatives before smacking down your hard earn cash for super marked-up parts.  I had been using these pads for more then 1 week, they felt and performed just like the normal OEM pads that I had before.  I highly recommend this brand for people who are looking for cheaper alternative.

Yes I know the box said its for BMW MINI JCW but apparently the set fit my car perfect!  Thanks to the seller who recommended the set!

Porsche 911 GT3 (991)

Here are more pictures of the most talked about 911 in Brunei this week.  Enjoy!
 

Porsche 911 GT3 Has Landed!

My favorite model from the 911 range, GT3, is finally here in Brunei!  This is the first ever GT3 to land in Brunei.  This one is sold even before the wraps were taken off.  The price is BND$290,000O.T.R.   Damn!  How I wish I can buy this car!  This is a track focus race car from Porsche.  The car has 475hp coming from the 3.8 litre engine mated to a 7 speed PDK gearbox.  The cars rev up to 9000rpm and reaches 100km/hr in less then 3.5sec!  I was told there will be more units coming in Oct this year!  Can't wait to see more of this on our road!

 

Check out the single racing bolt wheel!  Yea those wheels looks delicious matching with the big red Brembo Caliper.

Oh yea and this is the new BMW 420d,  this is the coupe version of 3series and has a diesel engine.  This ride could be yours for about $70K showroom price.